A coat of many circles

Back in January, when April seemed like a million years away, I agreed to create a piece of collaborative work for the fashion show taking place at the Haymarket (my pop-up studio sponsors) this weekend. I also agreed to run a drop-in sewing activity at Makers Mart last weekend & figured that maybe I could combine the two. Creating collaborative work with members of the public is something I am really getting into. I do this with schools – I design & drive the work, they create elements of it and I assemble it. Working in this way gives me much more job satisfaction than working with people to create something I think doesn’t quite work or doesn’t look professional. Everyone is happy; collaborators and me.

So I decided to make a coat out of (beloved) Suffolk Puffs, something I have been thinking about for a while anyway. Makers Mart took place around performances of Joseph. So a many-coloured coat seemed appropriate.

Lots of workshop participants, Makers Mart visitors, friends, students and helpers have been part of creating this piece. I have probably made 70% of the Suffolk puffs, but I do churn them out rather, so it has been a pleasure! I’ve spent a few hours this week assembling it – it is actually only tagged together with the amazing Microstitch (my new best friend) for reasons of speed – otherwise I’d be spending weeks sewing it together. It may yet have another incarnation. I often make pieces more than once before I settle on the final outcome. Or it may go on display somewhere else. Who knows. But for now it is done & ready to be shown (on a mannequin) on Saturday.

The more I look at it, the more I realise I like the back more than the front, so it may well get remade at some point. But I am pretty pleased with it.